Finger devices with adjustable housing structures

ABSTRACT

A finger device may be worn on a user&#39;s finger and may serve as a controller for a head-mounted device or other electronic device. The finger device may have a housing having an upper housing portion that extends across a top of the finger and first and second side housing portions that extend down respective first and second sides of the finger. Sensors in the side housing portions may measure movements of the sides of the finger as the finger contacts an external surface. To ensure that the sensors are appropriately positioned relative to the sides of the finger, the housing may include one or more adjustable structures such as an elastomeric band, a drawstring, a ratchet mechanism, a scissor mechanism, and/or other adjustable structures for adjusting the position of the first and second side housing portions and associated sensors relative to the upper housing portion.

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationNo. 63/078,216, filed Sep. 14, 2020, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, tofinger-mounted electronic devices.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices such as computers can be controlled using computermice and other input accessories. Input accessories can be used tocontrol content that is displayed on a display and to take otheractions. Some input accessories for computer systems may be cumbersome,uncomfortable, or unable to accommodate different users.

SUMMARY

A system may include a finger device that is worn on a user's finger.The finger device has sensor circuitry in a housing. The sensorcircuitry may include a strain gauge, accelerometer, displacementsensor, and/or other sensor circuitry to detect finger input as thehousing is moved by the finger. Wireless communications circuitry may beused to supply the finger input to other devices in the system such as ahead-mounted device or other electronic device. During operation, fingerinput may be used to manipulate content displayed by the head-mounteddevice or other equipment in the system.

The finger device housing may include an upper housing portion thatextends across a top of the finger and first and second side housingportions that extend down respective first and second sides of thefinger. One or more sensors (e.g., a force sensor, displacement sensor,etc.) may be located in the side housing portions and may be configuredto measure movements of the sides of the finger as the finger contactsan external surface and makes other finger movements.

To ensure that the sensors are appropriately positioned relative to thesides of the finger, one or more adjustable structures may be used toadjust the position of the first and second side housing portionsrelative to the upper housing portion. The adjustable structures mayinclude an elastomeric band, a drawstring, a ratchet mechanism, ascissor mechanism, and/or other adjustable structures that allow theposition of the side housing portions and associated sensors to beadjusted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative system with a fingerdevice in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an illustrative finger of a user on which afinger device has been placed in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative finger deviceon the finger of a user in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an illustrative finger device with ahinge in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative finger devicewith adjustable housing structures for accommodating a first finger sizein accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative finger devicewith adjustable housing structures for accommodating a second fingersize in accordance with an embodiment

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an illustrative finger device withadjustable housing structures including an elastomeric band inaccordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an illustrative finger device withadjustable housing structures including a drawstring in accordance withan embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an illustrative finger device withadjustable housing structures including a ratchet mechanism inaccordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an illustrative finger device withadjustable housing structures including a scissor mechanism inaccordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Electronic devices that are configured to be mounted on the body of auser may be used to gather user input and to provide a user with output.For example, electronic devices that are configured to be worn on one ormore of a user's fingers, which are sometimes referred to as fingerdevices or finger-mounted devices, may be used to gather user input andto supply output. A finger device may, as an example, include aninertial measurement unit with an accelerometer for gatheringinformation on figure motions such as finger taps or free-space fingergestures, may include force sensors for gathering information on normaland shear forces in the finger device and the user's finger, may includea displacement sensor, force sensor, or other sensor for measuringmovements of the sides of the finger as the finger contacts an externalsurface, and may include other sensors for gathering information on theinteractions between the finger device (and the user's finger on whichthe device is mounted) and the surrounding environment. The fingerdevice may include a haptic output device to provide the user's fingerwith haptic output and may include other output components.

One or more finger devices may gather user input from a user. The usermay use finger devices in operating electronic devices. For example, afinger device may be used as a controller for a virtual reality or mixedreality device (e.g., head-mounted equipment such as glasses, goggles, ahelmet, or other device with a display). During operation, the fingerdevices may gather user input such as information on interactionsbetween the finger device(s) and the surrounding environment (e.g.,interactions between a user's fingers and the environment, includingfinger motions and other interactions associated with virtual contentdisplayed for a user). The user input may be used in controlling visualoutput on the display. Corresponding haptic output may be provided tothe user's fingers using the finger devices. Haptic output may be used,for example, to provide the fingers of a user with a desired texturesensation as a user is touching a real object or as a user is touching avirtual object. Haptic output can also be used to create detents andother haptic effects.

Finger devices can be worn on any or all of a user's fingers (e.g., theindex finger, the index finger and thumb, three of a user's fingers onone of the user's hands, some or all fingers on both hands, etc.). Toenhance the sensitivity of a user's touch as the user interacts withsurrounding objects, finger devices may have inverted U shapes or otherconfigurations that allow the finger devices to be worn over the top andsides of a user's finger tips while leaving the user's finger padsexposed. This allows a user to touch objects with the finger padportions of the user's fingers during use. If desired, finger devicesmay be worn over knuckles on a user's finger, between knuckles, and/oron other portions of a user's finger. Finger devices may have a singlesegment (e.g., a single housing that fits over the end of a user'sfinger) or may have multiple segments (e.g., multiple housing portionsthat are flexibly coupled to each other so that they may be worn onrespective segments of a user's finger). One or more finger devices maybe worn at a time. The use of a finger device that is worn on a user'sfingertip is sometimes described herein as an example.

Users can use finger devices to interact with any suitable electronicequipment. For example, a user may use one or more finger devices tointeract with a virtual reality or mixed reality system (e.g., ahead-mounted device with a display), to supply input to a desktopcomputer, tablet computer, cellular telephone, watch, ear buds, or otheraccessory, or to interact with other electronic equipment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative system of the type thatmay include one or more finger devices. As shown in FIG. 1 , system 8may include electronic device(s) such as finger device(s) 10 and otherelectronic device(s) 24. Each finger device 10 may be worn on a fingerof a user's hand. Additional electronic devices in system 8 such asdevices 24 may include devices such as a laptop computer, a computermonitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a desktopcomputer (e.g., a display on a stand with an integrated computerprocessor and other computer circuitry), a cellular telephone, a mediaplayer, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smallerdevice such as a wristwatch device, a pendant device, a headphone orearpiece device, a head-mounted device such as glasses, goggles, ahelmet, or other equipment worn on a user's head, or other wearable orminiature device, a television, a computer display that does not containan embedded computer, a gaming device, a remote control, a navigationdevice, an embedded system such as a system in which equipment ismounted in a kiosk, in an automobile, airplane, or other vehicle, aremovable external case for electronic equipment, a strap, a wrist bandor head band, a removable cover for a device, a case or bag that hasstraps or that has other structures to receive and carry electronicequipment and other items, a necklace or arm band, a wallet, sleeve,pocket, or other structure into which electronic equipment or otheritems may be inserted, part of a chair, sofa, or other seating (e.g.,cushions or other seating structures), part of an item of clothing orother wearable item (e.g., a hat, belt, wrist band, headband, sock,glove, shirt, pants, etc.), or equipment that implements thefunctionality of two or more of these devices.

With one illustrative configuration, which may sometimes be describedherein as an example, device 10 is a finger-mounted device having afinger-mounted housing with a U-shaped body that grasps a user's fingeror a finger-mounted housing with other shapes configured to rest againsta user's finger and device(s) 24 is a cellular telephone, tabletcomputer, laptop computer, wristwatch device, head-mounted device, adevice with a speaker, and/or other electronic device (e.g., a devicewith a display, audio components, and/or other output components,equipment that includes multiple devices such as a cellular telephone orcomputer that serves as a host and a head-mounted device that providesdisplay functionality for the host, etc.). A finger device with aU-shaped housing may have opposing left and right sides that areconfigured to receive a user's finger and a top housing portion thatcouples the left and right sides and that overlaps the user'sfingernail.

Devices 10 and 24 may include control circuitry 12 and 26. Controlcircuitry 12 and 26 may include storage and processing circuitry forsupporting the operation of system 8. The storage and processingcircuitry may include storage such as nonvolatile memory (e.g., flashmemory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured toform a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamicrandom-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry 12and 26 may be used to gather input from sensors and other input devicesand may be used to control output devices. The processing circuitry maybe based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digitalsignal processors, baseband processors and other wireless communicationscircuits, power management units, audio chips, application specificintegrated circuits, etc.

To support communications between devices 10 and 24 and/or to supportcommunications between equipment in system 8 and external electronicequipment, control circuitry 12 may communicate using communicationscircuitry 14 and/or control circuitry 26 may communicate usingcommunications circuitry 28. Circuitry 14 and/or 28 may includeantennas, radio-frequency transceiver circuitry, and other wirelesscommunications circuitry and/or wired communications circuitry.Circuitry 14 and/or 26, which may sometimes be referred to as controlcircuitry and/or control and communications circuitry, may, for example,support bidirectional wireless communications between devices 10 and 24over wireless link 38 (e.g., a wireless local area network link, anear-field communications link, or other suitable wired or wirelesscommunications link (e.g., a Bluetooth® link, a WiFi® link, a 60 GHzlink or other millimeter wave link, etc.). Devices 10 and 24 may alsoinclude power circuits for transmitting and/or receiving wired and/orwireless power and may include batteries. In configurations in whichwireless power transfer is supported between devices 10 and 24, in-bandwireless communications may be supported using inductive power transfercoils (as an example).

Devices 10 and 24 may include input-output devices such as devices 16and 30. Input-output devices 16 and/or 30 may be used in gathering userinput, in gathering information on the environment surrounding the user,and/or in providing a user with output. Devices 16 may include sensors18 and devices 24 may include sensors 32. Sensors 18 and/or 32 mayinclude force sensors (e.g., strain gauges, capacitive force sensors,resistive force sensors, etc.), audio sensors such as microphones, touchand/or proximity sensors such as capacitive sensors (e.g.,two-dimensional touch sensors), optical sensors such as optical sensorsthat emit and detect light, ultrasonic sensors, and/or other touchsensors and/or proximity sensors, monochromatic and color ambient lightsensors, image sensors, fingerprint sensors, temperature sensors,sensors for measuring three-dimensional non-contact gestures (“airgestures”), pressure sensors, sensors for detecting position,orientation, and/or motion (e.g., accelerometers, magnetic sensors suchas compass sensors, gyroscopes, and/or inertial measurement units thatcontain some or all of these sensors), health sensors such as sensorsfor measuring blood oxygen content and heart rates sensors,radio-frequency sensors (e.g., sensors that gather position information,three-dimensional radio-frequency images, and/or other information usingradar principals or other radio-frequency sensing, sensors that detectposition, orientation, and/or motion relative to other objects usingBluetooth® positioning techniques or using Ultra-wideband positioningtechniques), muscle activity sensors (EMG) for detecting finger actions,optical sensors such as self-mixing sensors and light detection andranging (lidar) sensors that gather time-of-flight measurements, opticalsensors such as visual odometry sensors that gather position and/ororientation information using images gathered with digital image sensorsin cameras, gaze tracking sensors, visible light and/or infrared camerashaving digital image sensors, humidity sensors, moisture sensors,three-dimensional sensors (e.g., time-of-flight image sensors, pairs oftwo-dimensional image sensors that gather three-dimensional images usingbinocular vision, three-dimensional structured light sensors that emitan array of infrared light beams or other structured light using arraysof lasers or other light emitters and associated optical components andthat capture images of the spots created as the beams illuminate targetobjects, and/or other three-dimensional image sensors), facialrecognition sensors based on three-dimensional image sensors, and/orother sensors, gas sensors, and/or other sensors. In some arrangements,devices 10 and/or 24 may use sensors 18 and/or 32 and/or otherinput-output devices 16 and/or 30 to gather user input (e.g., buttonsmay be used to gather button press input, touch sensors overlappingdisplays can be used for gathering user touch screen input, touch padsmay be used in gathering touch input, microphones may be used forgathering audio input, accelerometers may be used in monitoring when afinger contacts an input surface and may therefore be used to gatherfinger press input, etc.). If desired, device 10 and/or device 24 mayinclude rotating buttons (e.g., a crown mechanism on a watch or fingerdevice or other suitable rotary button that rotates and that optionallycan be depressed to select items of interest). Alphanumeric keys and/orother buttons may be included in devices 16 and/or 30.

Devices 16 and/or 30 may include haptic output devices 20 and/or 34.Haptic output devices 20 and/or 34 can produce motion that is sensed bythe user (e.g., through the user's fingertips). Haptic output devices 20and/or 34 may include actuators such as electromagnetic actuators,motors, piezoelectric actuators, electroactive polymer actuators,vibrators, linear actuators, rotational actuators, actuators that bendbendable members, actuator devices that create and/or control repulsiveand/or attractive forces between devices 10 and/or 24 (e.g., componentsfor creating electrostatic repulsion and/or attraction such aselectrodes, components for producing ultrasonic output such asultrasonic transducers, components for producing magnetic interactionssuch as electromagnets for producing direct-current and/oralternating-current magnetic fields, permanent magnets, magneticmaterials such as iron or ferrite, and/or other circuitry for producingrepulsive and/or attractive forces between devices 10 and/or 24). Insome situations, actuators for creating forces in device 10 may be usedin squeezing a user's finger and/or otherwise directly interacting witha user's finger pulp. In other situations, these components may be usedto interact with each other (e.g., by creating a dynamically adjustableelectromagnetic repulsion and/or attraction force between a pair ofdevices 10 and/or between device(s) 10 and device(s) 24 usingelectromagnets).

If desired, input-output devices 16 and/or 30 may include other devices22 and/or 36 such as displays (e.g., in device 24 to display images fora user), status indicator lights (e.g., a light-emitting diode in device10 and/or 24 that serves as a power indicator, and other light-basedoutput devices), speakers and other audio output devices,electromagnets, permanent magnets, structures formed from magneticmaterial (e.g., iron bars or other ferromagnetic members that areattracted to magnets such as electromagnets and/or permanent magnets),batteries, etc. Devices 10 and/or 24 may also include power transmittingand/or receiving circuits configured to transmit and/or receive wiredand/or wireless power signals (e.g., wireless power transmitting coilsand wireless power receiving coils, capacitive electrodes for wirelesspower transmission and/or wireless power reception, etc.).

FIG. 2 is a top view of a user's finger (finger 40) and an illustrativefinger-mounted device 10. As shown in FIG. 2 , device 10 may be formedfrom a finger-mounted unit that is mounted on or near the tip of finger40 (e.g., partly or completely overlapping fingernail 42). If desired,device 10 may be worn elsewhere on a user's fingers such as over aknuckle, between knuckles, etc. Configurations in which a device such asdevice 10 is worn between fingers 40 and/or in which a device such asdevice 10 has a housing configured to be worn on other body parts of auser may also be used.

A user may wear one or more of devices 10 simultaneously. For example, auser may wear a single one of devices 10 on the user's ring finger orindex finger. As another example, a user may wear a first device 10 onthe user's thumb, a second device 10 on the user's index finger, and anoptional third device 10 on the user's middle finger. Arrangements inwhich devices 10 are worn on other fingers and/or all fingers of one orboth hands of a user may also be used.

Control circuitry 12 (and, if desired, communications circuitry 14and/or input-output devices 16) may be contained entirely within device10 (e.g., in a housing for a fingertip-mounted unit) and/or may includecircuitry that is coupled to a fingertip structure (e.g., by wires froman associated wrist band, glove, fingerless glove, etc.). Configurationsin which devices 10 have bodies that are mounted on individual userfingertips are sometimes described herein as an example.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative finger device(finger-mounted device) 10 showing illustrative mounting locations 46for electrical components (e.g., control circuitry 12, communicationscircuitry 14, and/or input-output devices 16) within and/or on thesurface(s) of finger device housing 44. These components may, ifdesired, be incorporated into other portions of housing 44. Housing 44may be formed from metal (e.g., sheet metal or any other suitable typeof metal), glass, plastic, ceramic, fabric, leather, other materials,and/or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Fingerdevice housing structures that are formed from fabric may include one ormore pockets for holding sensors, printed circuits, control circuits,magnets, output devices, and/or other structures or electricalcomponents.

As shown in FIG. 3 , housing 44 may have a U shape (e.g., housing 44 maybe a U-shaped housing structure that faces downwardly and covers theupper surface of the tip of user finger 40 and fingernail 42). Duringoperation, a user may press against structures such as structure 50. Asthe bottom of finger 40 (e.g., finger pulp or finger pad 40P) pressesagainst surface 48 of structure 50, the user's finger may compress andforce portions of the finger outwardly against the sidewall portions ofhousing 44 (e.g., for sensing by force sensors, displacement sensors, orother sensors mounted to the side portions of housing 44). Lateralmovement of finger 40 in the X-Y plane may also be sensed using forcesensors or other sensors on the sidewalls of housing 44 or otherportions of housing 44 (e.g., because lateral movement will tend topress portions of finger 40 against some sensors more than others and/orwill create shear forces that are measured by force sensors that areconfigured to sense shear forces).

Ultrasonic sensors, optical sensors, inertial measurement units, straingauges and other force sensors, radio-frequency sensors, and/or othersensors may be used in gathering sensor measurements indicative of theactivities of finger 40. If desired, these sensors may also be used inmapping the contours of three-dimensional objects (e.g., bytime-of-flight measurements and/or other measurements). For example, anultrasonic sensor such as a two-dimensional image sensor or anultrasonic sensor with a single ultrasonic transducer element may emitfree-space ultrasonic sound signals that are received and processedafter reflecting off of external objects. This allows athree-dimensional ultrasonic map to be generated indicating the shapesand locations of the external objects.

In some configurations, finger activity information (position, movement,orientation, etc.) may be gathered using sensors that are mounted inexternal electronic equipment (e.g., in a computer or other desktopdevice, in a head-mounted device or other wearable device, and/or inother electronic device 24 that is separate from device 10). Forexample, optical sensors such as images sensors that are separate fromdevices 10 may be used in monitoring devices 10 to determine theirposition, movement, and/or orientation. If desired, devices 10 mayinclude passive and/or active optical registration features to assist animage sensor in device 24 in tracking the position, orientation, and/ormotion of device 10. For example, devices 10 may include light-emittingdevices such as light-emitting diodes and/or lasers. The light-emittingdevices may be arranged in an asymmetric pattern on housing 44 and mayemit light that is detected by an image sensor, depth sensor, and/orother light-based tracking sensor circuitry in device 24. By processingthe received patterned of emitted light, device 24 can determine theposition, orientation, and/or motion of device 10.

Tracking can also be performed that involves extrapolating from a knownbody part orientation (e.g., a finger orientation) to produceorientation information on other body parts (e.g., wrist and/or armorientation estimated using inverse kinematics). Visual odometry sensorsmay, if desired, be included in devices 10. These sensors may includeimage sensors that gather frames of image data of the surroundings ofdevices 10 and may be used in measuring position, orientation, and/ormotion from the frame of image data. Lidar, ultrasonic sensors orientedin multiple directions, radio-frequency tracking sensors, and/or otherfinger device tracking arrangements may be used, if desired. In somearrangements, user input for controlling system 8 can include both userfinger input and other user input (e.g., user eye gaze input, user voiceinput, etc.). For example, gaze tracking information such as a user'spoint-of-gaze measured with a gaze tracker can be fused with fingerinput when controlling device 10 and/or devices 24 in system 8. Thefinger input may include information on finger orientation, position,and/or motion and may include information on how forcefully a finger ispressing against surfaces (e.g., force information).

The sensors in device 10 may, for example, measure how forcefully a useris moving device 10 (and finger 40) against surface 48 (e.g., in adirection parallel to the surface normal n of surface 48 such as the −Zdirection of FIG. 3 ) and/or how forcefully a user is moving device 10(and finger 40) within the X-Y plane, tangential to surface 48. Thedirection of movement of device 10 in the X-Y plane and/or in the Zdirection can also be measured by the force sensors and/or other sensors18 at locations 46.

Structure 50 may be a portion of a housing of device 24, may be aportion of another device 10 (e.g., another housing 44), may be aportion of a user's finger 40 or other body part, may be a surface of areal-world object such as a table, a movable real-world object such as abottle or pen, or other inanimate object external to device 10, and/ormay be any other structure that the user can contact with finger 40while moving finger 40 in a desired direction with a desired force.Because motions such as these can be sensed by device 10, device(s) 10can be used to gather pointing input (e.g., input moving a cursor orother virtual object on a display such as a display in devices 36), canbe used to gather tap input, swipe input, pinch-to-zoom input (e.g.,when a pair of devices 10 is used), or other gesture input (e.g., fingergestures, hand gestures, arm motions, etc.), and/or can be used togather other user input.

In general, user input gathered by device 10 may be used in controllingany suitable operations in system 8. As an example, system 8 (e.g., oneor more devices such as device 24 and/or other equipment in system 8)may change the content displayed for a user by a display device (e.g., ahead-mounted display in a head-mounted device or other display) inresponse to the user input. A pointer may be moved within a displayedimage (e.g., to point to a virtual object or real-world object in theuser's field of view), lines may be drawn by moving a pointer or virtualpaintbrush, content can be scrolled (e.g., in response to user scroll upand scroll down commands received by monitoring deformation of theitem), etc. Highlight regions (e.g., a computer-generated visualhighlighting element such as a ring, enlarged area, brightened ordarkened area, etc.) may also be moved in response to user input. Userinput may be used to direct system 8 to select highlighted items (e.g.,to launch an application, to select media for playback, to perform afile action such as deleting, copying, renaming, etc.). If desired, userinput may be used to change pages of displayed content (e.g., to advancethrough pages in a visual presentation, to move through the pages of abook, etc.). User input may also be used to adjust audio settings, toselect a media track, to perform fast forward, reverse, pause, stop, andplay operations, and/or to otherwise control the playback of mediacontent containing video, audio, and/or haptic feedback. System 8 mayhave user adjustable settings such as account settings, user playbacksettings, and/or other settings. User input from device 10 may be usedin adjusting these settings and/or other adjustable parameters in system8. Device 10 may, as an example, provide finger input informationdirectly to device 24 (e.g., a head-mounted display device) or mayprovide finger input information to a first device (e.g., a computer orcellular telephone serving as a host) while the first device uses adisplay in a second device (e.g., a display in a head-mounted device) todisplay content in response to the finger input information.

If desired, finger device 10 may be placed on a user's finger bypressing housing 44 into place over the top of the tip of the finger.This type of arrangement, which may sometimes be referred to as apress-fit or friction-fit arrangement, may accommodate a range of fingersizes, particularly in configurations in which housing 44 has portionsthat deform (e.g., by flexing). When it is desired to remove device 10from the user's finger, housing 44 may be pulled off of the tip of theuser's finger.

Another illustrative arrangement involves providing device 10 withadjustable housing structures such as one or more hinges or otherstructures that allow device 10 to fold and unfold. When it is desiredto attach device 10 to the user's finger, device 10 can be folded intoits folded state so that device 10 squeezes inwardly against the sidesof the user's finger. When it is desired to remove device 10 from theuser's finger, device 10 can be unfolded and thereby freed from thefinger.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of finger device 10 in an illustrativeconfiguration in which device 10 is foldable or flexible. In the exampleof FIG. 4 , housing 44 of device 10 has an upper housing portion 44Tthat extends across the upper (top) portion of the user's finger and hasopposing left and right side housing portions 44F that respectivelypress against the left and right sides of the user's finger.

In one illustrative arrangement, housing 44 may be formed from anelastomeric material such as elastomeric silicone. The elastomericmaterial may be overmolded onto or otherwise attached to a rigid core(e.g., a rigid plastic core) that spans continuously across side housingportions 44F and upper housing portion 44T or that is located only incertain portions of housing 44 such as side portions 44F. The plasticcore may be deformable or may be biased inwardly (e.g., side portions44F may be biased towards one another). Side portions 44F may, ifdesired, be tapered to be wider near the top of the user's finger (e.g.,near upper housing portion 44T) and narrower near the bottom of theuser's finger (e.g., near sensors 18) so that the lower end of sidehousing portions 44T is more flexible than the upper end of side housingportions 44T. This type of tapered geometry combined with the elasticityof the elastomeric material provides a clamping force that pulls sideportions 44F inwardly towards the user's finger.

In another illustrative arrangement, hinge structures formed from one ormore hinges may be provided in housing 44 to allow housing 44 to foldand unfold.

As a first example, a single hinge may be formed along the center ofhousing portion 44T to allow housing 44 to fold and unfold by rotationabout rotational (fold) axis 52.

As a second example, a pair of parallel hinges may be formed in housing44. A first of the hinges may extend along first fold axis (hinge axis)54 and a second of the hinges may extend along a parallel fold axis suchas second fold axis (hinge axis) 56. In this type of arrangement,housing 44 may fold along both axis 54 and axis 56. In someconfigurations, the hinges may include interlocking elements that impartrotational friction (e.g., the hinges may be friction hinges) to helplock the fold position of device 10. In other configurations, rotationalfriction from the hinges may be reduced.

If desired, side housing portions 44F may respectively include or becoupled to a pair of protrusions on upper housing portion 44T. When theuser wishes to open housing 44, the user may squeeze the protrusionstowards one another, thereby causing side housing portions 44F to rotateoutwardly (away from one another) so that a user can insert his or herfinger in housing 44. When the protrusions are released, side housingportions 44F may rotate inwardly to clamp onto the user's finger.

In general, a single hinge, a pair of hinges, or three or more hinges(e.g., hinges along axes 52, 54, and 56 of FIG. 4 or other suitablelocations) or other foldable structures may be provided in housing 44 toallow device 10 to fold (and unfold). Configurations in which housing 44folds about a single hinge may sometimes be described herein as anexample. This is illustrative. Any suitable hinge structures may beused, if desired.

If desired, adjustable housing structures for device 10 may includestraps that extend partially or fully around the circumference of thefinger (e.g., straps that are fully flexible or straps that are stiffand straight in one configuration and that curve inward towards oneanother when bent), straps that attach to one another with a buckle,clasp, magnets, and/or other structures, etc. In another configuration,a single strap may extend from one side portion 44F to the opposing sideportion 44F. The single strap may be detachably coupled to one or bothof side portions 44F and/or may loop through an opening in side portion44F and fold back on itself (e.g., may attach to itself with a hook andloop fastener or other attachment structure). Ratcheting structures,springs, tensioning structures, sliders, and/or other adjustablestructures may be incorporated into housing 44 to allow a user to fitdevice 10 properly on the user's finger. Sliders may allow forcontinuous adjustment of size, or sliders may have detents that allowfor adjustment between discrete sizes.

In addition to providing sufficient clamping force to hold device 10 onthe user's finger, the adjustable housing structures in device 10 may beused to ensure that the sensors in device 10 are appropriatelypositioned relative to the user's finger. This allows device 10 toaccommodate a range of different finger sizes without sacrificing sensorsensitivity.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional side views of device 10 showing howthe adjustable housing structures in device 10 may be adjusted to ensurethat sensors 18 are placed appropriately relative to fingers ofdifferent sizes. As shown in FIG. 5 , device 10 may include adjustablehousing structures 44 such as upper housing portion 44T and left andright side housing portions 44F. As discussed in connection with FIG. 4, device 10 may have hinges that allow housing 44 to rotate about one ormore hinge axes. For example, housing 44 may include hinge 58 thatallows housing 44 to rotate about axis 52. Additionally oralternatively, housing 44 may include hinges that allow housing 44 torotate about axes 54 and 56.

The hinges of housing 44 allow side portions 44F to rotate inwardly indirections 62. The rotational force in directions 62 ensures that device10 stays in place on finger 40 while also ensuring that sensors 18 areplaced close enough to finger 40. Sensors 18 may, for example, be forcesensors, displacement sensors, and/or other sensors that are configuredto measure very small movements of the sides of finger 40 as finger 40moves (e.g., as described in connection with FIG. 3 ). When device 10 ismounted to finger 40 and side portions 44F are rotated inward, sensors18 are pressed closer to finger 40 to ensure that the small movements ofthe sides of finger 40 can be detected by sensors 40.

In addition to pressing sensors 18 against the sides of the user'sfinger, the adjustable housing structures 44 may be used to ensure thatsensors 18 are placed at the appropriate height along the side of thefinger. If sensors 18 are too low on the finger (e.g., too close tofinger pulp 40P), sensors 18 may inadvertently contact the surface thatthe user is touching with finger 40 (which could result in a faultysensor reading in some scenarios) and/or may obstruct finger 40 fromcontacting the desired surface. If sensors 18 are too high on the finger(e.g., too close to the top of finger 40), sensors 18 may be sensing apart of the finger that does not exhibit sufficient movement relative tothe rest of the finger to be detected by sensors 18.

Adjustable housing structures 44 may allow the position of sensors 18 onside portions 44F relative to top portion 44T to be adjustable so thatsensors 18 can be placed at the appropriate height along the sides ofthe user's finger. As shown in FIG. 5 , for example, finger 40 may havea first size (e.g., a relatively large size) with cross-sectional areaA1. For larger finger sizes, sensors 18 in side portions 44F may need tobe further away from top housing portion 44T to reach the appropriatelocation on the side of the finger. To enlarge the space between topportion 44T and sensors 18 on side portions 44F, side portions 44F maybe moved downward and/or outward in directions 92. This allows sensors18 to extend low enough on a larger finger to sense the appropriateportion of the sides of finger 40.

For smaller finger sizes, such as finger 40 of FIG. 6 withcross-sectional area A2 (e.g., a cross-sectional area smaller thancross-sectional area A1 of FIG. 5 ), sensors 18 in side portions 44F mayneed to be closer to top housing portion 44T. To decrease the spacebetween top portion 44T and sensors 18 on side portions 44F, sideportions 44F may be moved upward and inward in directions 64. Thisallows sensors 18 to extend high enough on a smaller finger to sense theappropriate portions of the sides of finger 40.

By combining rotational motion (e.g., in directions 62) with linearmotion (e.g., in directions 92 and 64), adjustable housing structures 44may be able to accommodate different finger sizes (e.g., using linearmovements of side portions 44F relative to top portion 44T) while alsoensuring that sensors 18 are sufficiently close to the sides of theuser's finger (e.g., using rotational movements of side portions 44Tabout one or more rotational axes such as axes 52, 54, and 56).

FIGS. 7, 8, 9, and 10 are illustrative examples of different adjustablehousing structures that may be incorporated into device 10 toaccommodate different finger sizes and ensure appropriate positioning ofsensors 18 relative to the user's finger. These examples are merelyillustrative. If desired, other adjustable structures may be used toadjust the positions of side housing portions 44F relative to upperhousing portion 44T. Arrangements in which one or more of the adjustablestructures in FIGS. 7, 8, 9, and 10 are combined with one another and/orcombined with other adjustable structures may also be used.

As shown in FIG. 7 , housing 44 may include upper housing portion 44Tcoupled to first and second side housing portions 44F. If desired, eachside housing portions 44F may have individually adjustable portions suchas ribs 44P separated by a gap such as gap 82. Each side housing portion44F has first and second individually adjustable ribs 44P in the exampleof FIG. 7 , but there may be three, four, five, or more than fiveindividually adjustable ribs 44P, if desired. Each rib 44P may includeone or more sensors 18 that detects movements of the side of the user'sfingertip. Providing a gap such as gap 82 between sensors 18 along agiven side of the user's finger allows ribs 44P to move relative to oneanother so that sensors 18 to be individually articulated to theappropriate position against the side of the user's finger, which canhelp accommodate different finger geometries. This is, however, merelyillustrative. If desired, each side portion 44F may not include any gapsand may instead have a single housing structure (e.g., similar to theexample of FIG. 4 ). Arrangements in which side housing portions 44Finclude individually adjustable ribs 44P are sometimes described hereinas an illustrative example.

As discussed in connection with FIGS. 5 and 6 , housing 44 may includeone or more hinges. For example, hinges 68 may be provided along eachside housing portion 44F to allow side housing portions 44F to rotatetowards one another when device 10 clamps onto the finger and to rotateaway from one another when device 10 is released from the finger. Hinges68 may, for example, allow for rotation about axes 54 and 56 of FIGS. 5and 6 . Hinges in device 10 such as hinges 68 of FIG. 7 and/or hinge 58of FIGS. 5 and 6 may include friction hinges, spring-loaded hinges,and/or freely-rotating hinge joints. The example of FIG. 7 in whichhousing 44 includes hinges 68 is merely illustrative. If desired, device10 may include additional or different hinges (e.g., hinge 58 of FIGS. 5and 6 ) and/or may be free of hinges.

To adjust the position of side housing portions 44F relative to upperhousing portion 44T, housing 44 may include an adjustable structureformed from elastomeric material such as elastomeric band 66 (e.g., aband of elastomeric silicone or other elastic material). Elastomericband 66 may have a first end coupled to first side housing portion 44Fand a second end coupled to second side housing portion 44F. Elastomericband 66 may extend across upper housing portion 44T and may be attachedto side portions 44F by looping through an opening such as opening 70 ineach of side portions 44F. This is merely illustrative. If desired,elastomeric band 66 may be coupled to side housing portions 44F usingadhesive, overmolding, and/or any other suitable attachment means.

The spring force from elastomeric band 66 may help pull side housingportions 44F towards upper housing portion 44T in directions 64. Inarrangements where hinges 68 are present in housing 44 and includespring-loaded hinges, hinges 68 may provide additional spring force indirections 64 and/or torque in directions 62 of FIG. 5 . Housing 44 mayinclude one or more detents that holds housing 44 in an open position(with side housing portions 44F rotated away from one another). Thedetent may be released when the user's finger is inserted into housing44, allowing the spring force from band 66 and/or spring-loaded hinges68 to pull side housing portions 44F towards one another and towardsupper housing portion 44T in directions 64.

In the example of FIG. 8 , housing 44 includes an adjustable structureformed from string such as drawstring 74 for pulling side housingportions 44F towards upper housing portion 44T. Drawstring 74 may be astrand of material such as polymer, metal, glass, graphite, ceramic,natural materials as cotton or bamboo, or other organic and/or inorganicmaterials and combinations of these materials. Drawstring 74 may beformed from a bundle of fibers (e.g., yarn) or may be formed from asingle monofilament. Drawstring 74 may have a first end coupled to afirst of side housing portions 44F and a second opposing end coupled toa second of side housing portions 44F. For example, each end ofdrawstring 74 may be looped through, tied to, adhesively attached to,stitched to, or otherwise coupled to a respective one of side housingportions 44F.

The central portion of drawstring 74 may be located on upper housingportion 44T. When this central portion is pulled in direction 72, thetwo opposing ends of drawstring 74 may pull side housing portions 44Ftowards upper housing portion 44T in directions 64. Drawstring 74 may bepulled directly by a user (e.g., the looped middle portion of drawstring74 may be pulled by the user's fingers), may be pulled indirectly by auser (e.g., the user may rotate a knob or manipulate some otherstructure that pulls drawstring 74), and/or may be pulled automaticallyby an actuator (e.g., an electromechanical actuator that pullsdrawstring 74 in response to an electrical control signal). To openhousing 44, drawstring 74 may be released and side housing portions 44Fmay be moved away from one another as the length of string between eachside housing portion 44F and upper housing portion 44T expands.

In the example of FIG. 9 , housing 44 includes adjustable structuressuch as a ratchet mechanism for adjusting the position of side housingportions 44F relative to upper housing portion 44T. The ratchetmechanism may include a rack such as linear rack 76 with teeth 80. Eachside housing portion 44F may be coupled to a pin such as pin 78 thatengages teeth 80 to hold side housing portion 44F at a given distancefrom upper housing portion 44T. For example, a first linear rack 76 andpin 78 may be used to adjust the position of a first side housingportion 44F relative to top housing portion 44T and a second linear rack76 and pin 78 may be used to adjust the position of a second sidehousing portion 44F relative to top housing portion 44T.

When a user wishes to make housing 44 smaller, the user may pinch bothside housing portions 44F together, causing pins 78 to move along teeth80 of racks 76 towards upper housing portion 44T in directions 64.Housing 44 may incorporate a release mechanism such as release button 94that releases the ratchet and opens housing 44 when actuated.

In the example of FIG. 10 , housing 44 includes adjustable structuressuch as a scissor mechanism for pulling side housing portions 44Ftowards upper housing portion 44T. The scissor mechanism may include aspring such as spring 88 along upper housing portion 44T and left andright scissor structures 84. Scissor structures 84 may each includefirst and second linked folding support members 96 that cross over oneanother at a crossover point where the two support members 96 are linkedand can rotate relative to one another. Each scissor structure 84 may beinterposed between upper housing portion 44T and a respective one ofside housing portions 44F. Attachment structures such as screws 90 maybe used to couple the ends of support members 96 to upper housingportion 44T and side housing portions 44F.

Scissor structures 84 may be configured to adjust the position of sidehousing portions 44F relative to upper housing portion 44T. The movementof scissor structures 84 may be controlled by spring 88. In particular,the upper ends of support members 96 may be coupled to opposing ends ofupper housing 44T. Spring 88 may provide a spring force outwardly indirections 98, thereby pushing the upper ends of support members 96 awayfrom one another, which in turn contracts scissor mechanism 84 and pullsside housing portions 44F toward upper housing portion 44T in directions64. When it is desired to open housing 44, a user may compress spring 88by pinching the opposing ends of upper housing 44T in locations 86. Thecompression of spring 88 pulls the upper ends of support members 96towards one another, which in turn expands scissor mechanism 84 andpushes side housing members 44F away from upper housing portion 44T andaway from each other.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is thegathering and use of information such as information from input-outputdevices. The present disclosure contemplates that in some instances,data may be gathered that includes personal information data thatuniquely identifies or can be used to contact or locate a specificperson. Such personal information data can include demographic data,location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter ID's,home addresses, data or records relating to a user's health or level offitness (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information,exercise information), date of birth, username, password, biometricinformation, or any other identifying or personal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personalinformation, in the present technology, can be used to the benefit ofusers. For example, the personal information data can be used to delivertargeted content that is of greater interest to the user. Accordingly,use of such personal information data enables users to calculatedcontrol of the delivered content. Further, other uses for personalinformation data that benefit the user are also contemplated by thepresent disclosure. For instance, health and fitness data may be used toprovide insights into a user's general wellness, or may be used aspositive feedback to individuals using technology to pursue wellnessgoals.

The present disclosure contemplates that the entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities shouldimplement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining personal information data private andsecure. Such policies should be easily accessible by users, and shouldbe updated as the collection and/or use of data changes. Personalinformation from users should be collected for legitimate and reasonableuses of the entity and not shared or sold outside of those legitimateuses. Further, such collection/sharing should occur after receiving theinformed consent of the users. Additionally, such entities shouldconsider taking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access tosuch personal information data and ensuring that others with access tothe personal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For instance, in theUnited States, collection of or access to certain health data may begoverned by federal and/or state laws, such as the Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), whereas health data in othercountries may be subject to other regulations and policies and should behandled accordingly. Hence different privacy practices should bemaintained for different personal data types in each country.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, the presenttechnology can be configured to allow users to select to “opt in” or“opt out” of participation in the collection of personal informationdata during registration for services or anytime thereafter. In anotherexample, users can select not to provide certain types of user data. Inyet another example, users can select to limit the length of timeuser-specific data is maintained. In addition to providing “opt in” and“opt out” options, the present disclosure contemplates providingnotifications relating to the access or use of personal information. Forinstance, a user may be notified upon downloading an application (“app”)that their personal information data will be accessed and then remindedagain just before personal information data is accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth,etc.), controlling the amount or specificity of data stored (e.g.,collecting location data at a city level rather than at an addresslevel), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data acrossusers), and/or other methods.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use ofinformation that may include personal information data to implement oneor more various disclosed embodiments, the present disclosure alsocontemplates that the various embodiments can also be implementedwithout the need for accessing personal information data. That is, thevarious embodiments of the present technology are not renderedinoperable due to the lack of all or a portion of such personalinformation data.

Physical environment: A physical environment refers to a physical worldthat people can sense and/or interact with without aid of electronicsystems. Physical environments, such as a physical park, includephysical articles, such as physical trees, physical buildings, andphysical people. People can directly sense and/or interact with thephysical environment, such as through sight, touch, hearing, taste, andsmell.

Computer-generated reality: in contrast, a computer-generated reality(CGR) environment refers to a wholly or partially simulated environmentthat people sense and/or interact with via an electronic system. In CGR,a subset of a person's physical motions, or representations thereof, aretracked, and, in response, one or more characteristics of one or morevirtual objects simulated in the CGR environment are adjusted in amanner that comports with at least one law of physics. For example, aCGR system may detect a person's head turning and, in response, adjustgraphical content and an acoustic field presented to the person in amanner similar to how such views and sounds would change in a physicalenvironment. In some situations (e.g., for accessibility reasons),adjustments to characteristic(s) of virtual object(s) in a CGRenvironment may be made in response to representations of physicalmotions (e.g., vocal commands). A person may sense and/or interact witha CGR object using any one of their senses, including sight, sound,touch, taste, and smell. For example, a person may sense and/or interactwith audio objects that create 3D or spatial audio environment thatprovides the perception of point audio sources in 3D space. In anotherexample, audio objects may enable audio transparency, which selectivelyincorporates ambient sounds from the physical environment with orwithout computer-generated audio. In some CGR environments, a person maysense and/or interact only with audio objects. Examples of CGR includevirtual reality and mixed reality.

Virtual reality: A virtual reality (VR) environment refers to asimulated environment that is designed to be based entirely oncomputer-generated sensory inputs for one or more senses. A VRenvironment comprises a plurality of virtual objects with which a personmay sense and/or interact. For example, computer-generated imagery oftrees, buildings, and avatars representing people are examples ofvirtual objects. A person may sense and/or interact with virtual objectsin the VR environment through a simulation of the person's presencewithin the computer-generated environment, and/or through a simulationof a subset of the person's physical movements within thecomputer-generated environment.

Mixed reality: In contrast to a VR environment, which is designed to bebased entirely on computer-generated sensory inputs, a mixed reality(MR) environment refers to a simulated environment that is designed toincorporate sensory inputs from the physical environment, or arepresentation thereof, in addition to including computer-generatedsensory inputs (e.g., virtual objects). On a virtuality continuum, amixed reality environment is anywhere between, but not including, awholly physical environment at one end and virtual reality environmentat the other end. In some MR environments, computer-generated sensoryinputs may respond to changes in sensory inputs from the physicalenvironment. Also, some electronic systems for presenting an MRenvironment may track location and/or orientation with respect to thephysical environment to enable virtual objects to interact with realobjects (that is, physical articles from the physical environment orrepresentations thereof). For example, a system may account formovements so that a virtual tree appears stationery with respect to thephysical ground. Examples of mixed realities include augmented realityand augmented virtuality. Augmented reality: an augmented reality (AR)environment refers to a simulated environment in which one or morevirtual objects are superimposed over a physical environment, or arepresentation thereof. For example, an electronic system for presentingan AR environment may have a transparent or translucent display throughwhich a person may directly view the physical environment. The systemmay be configured to present virtual objects on the transparent ortranslucent display, so that a person, using the system, perceives thevirtual objects superimposed over the physical environment.Alternatively, a system may have an opaque display and one or moreimaging sensors that capture images or video of the physicalenvironment, which are representations of the physical environment. Thesystem composites the images or video with virtual objects, and presentsthe composition on the opaque display. A person, using the system,indirectly views the physical environment by way of the images or videoof the physical environment, and perceives the virtual objectssuperimposed over the physical environment. As used herein, a video ofthe physical environment shown on an opaque display is called“pass-through video,” meaning a system uses one or more image sensor(s)to capture images of the physical environment, and uses those images inpresenting the AR environment on the opaque display. Furtheralternatively, a system may have a projection system that projectsvirtual objects into the physical environment, for example, as ahologram or on a physical surface, so that a person, using the system,perceives the virtual objects superimposed over the physicalenvironment. An augmented reality environment also refers to a simulatedenvironment in which a representation of a physical environment istransformed by computer-generated sensory information. For example, inproviding pass-through video, a system may transform one or more sensorimages to impose a select perspective (e.g., viewpoint) different thanthe perspective captured by the imaging sensors. As another example, arepresentation of a physical environment may be transformed bygraphically modifying (e.g., enlarging) portions thereof, such that themodified portion may be representative but not photorealistic versionsof the originally captured images. As a further example, arepresentation of a physical environment may be transformed bygraphically eliminating or obfuscating portions thereof. Augmentedvirtuality: an augmented virtuality (AV) environment refers to asimulated environment in which a virtual or computer generatedenvironment incorporates one or more sensory inputs from the physicalenvironment. The sensory inputs may be representations of one or morecharacteristics of the physical environment. For example, an AV park mayhave virtual trees and virtual buildings, but people with facesphotorealistically reproduced from images taken of physical people. Asanother example, a virtual object may adopt a shape or color of aphysical article imaged by one or more imaging sensors. As a furtherexample, a virtual object may adopt shadows consistent with the positionof the sun in the physical environment.

Hardware: there are many different types of electronic systems thatenable a person to sense and/or interact with various CGR environments.Examples include head mounted systems, projection-based systems,heads-up displays (HUDs), vehicle windshields having integrated displaycapability, windows having integrated display capability, displaysformed as lenses designed to be placed on a person's eyes (e.g., similarto contact lenses), headphones/earphones, speaker arrays, input systems(e.g., wearable or handheld controllers with or without hapticfeedback), smartphones, tablets, and desktop/laptop computers. A headmounted system may have one or more speaker(s) and an integrated opaquedisplay. Alternatively, a head mounted system may be configured toaccept an external opaque display (e.g., a smartphone). The head mountedsystem may incorporate one or more imaging sensors to capture images orvideo of the physical environment, and/or one or more microphones tocapture audio of the physical environment. Rather than an opaquedisplay, a head mounted system may have a transparent or translucentdisplay. The transparent or translucent display may have a mediumthrough which light representative of images is directed to a person'seyes. The display may utilize digital light projection, OLEDs, LEDs,LEDs, liquid crystal on silicon, laser scanning light source, or anycombination of these technologies. The medium may be an opticalwaveguide, a hologram medium, an optical combiner, an optical reflector,or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the transparent ortranslucent display may be configured to become opaque selectively.Projection-based systems may employ retinal projection technology thatprojects graphical images onto a person's retina. Projection systemsalso may be configured to project virtual objects into the physicalenvironment, for example, as a hologram or on a physical surface.

The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can bemade to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may beimplemented individually or in any combination.

What is claimed is:
 1. A finger device configured to be worn on a fingerto control an electronic device with a display, the finger devicecomprising: an upper housing portion configured to extend across a topof the finger; first and second side housing portions configured toextend down respective first and second opposing sides of the finger; asensor in the first side housing portion; and an adjustable structurethat adjusts a position of the first and second side housing portionsrelative to the upper housing portion, wherein the adjustable structureis configured to move the first side housing portion along a firstlinear axis and the second side housing portion along a second linearaxis.
 2. The finger device defined in claim 1 wherein the adjustablestructure comprises an elastomeric band coupled between the first andsecond side housing portions.
 3. The finger device defined in claim 2further comprising a spring-loaded hinge in the first side housingportion.
 4. The finger device defined in claim 1 wherein the adjustablestructure comprises a drawstring coupled between the first and secondside housing portions.
 5. The finger device defined in claim 1 whereinthe adjustable structure comprises a scissor mechanism.
 6. The fingerdevice defined in claim 5 wherein the scissor mechanism is one of firstand second scissor mechanisms, wherein the first scissor mechanismadjusts a position of the first side housing portion relative to theupper housing portion and the second scissor mechanism adjusts aposition of the second side housing portion relative to the upperhousing portion.
 7. The finger device defined in claim 1 furthercomprising a hinge that allows the first and second side housingportions to rotate about a rotational axis.
 8. The finger device definedin claim 1 wherein the sensor is configured to detect movements of thefirst side of the finger as the finger contacts an external surface. 9.A finger device configured to be worn on a finger to control anelectronic device with a display, the finger device comprising: an upperhousing portion configured to extend across a top of the finger; firstand second side housing portions configured to extend down respectivefirst and second opposing sides of the finger; a sensor in the firstside housing portion; and an adjustable structure that adjusts aposition of the first and second side housing portions relative to theupper housing portion, wherein the adjustable structure comprises aratchet mechanism.
 10. The finger device defined in claim 9 wherein theratchet mechanism is one of first and second ratchet mechanisms, whereinthe first ratchet mechanism adjusts a position of the first side housingportion relative to the upper housing portion and the second ratchetmechanism adjusts a position of the second side housing portion relativeto the upper housing portion.
 11. A finger device configured to be wornon a finger to gather finger input, the finger device comprising: aU-shaped housing that extends over a top of the finger and that leaves afinger pad of the finger exposed, the U-shaped housing comprising anupper portion coupled between first and second side portions; a hingethat allows the first side portion to rotate relative to the second sideportion; an adjustable structure that allows the first and second sideportions to translate linearly relative to the upper portion; and asensor in the first side portion.
 12. The finger device defined in claim11 wherein the adjustable structure is selected from the groupconsisting of: elastomeric material, a drawstring, a ratchet mechanism,and a scissor mechanism.
 13. The finger device defined in claim 11wherein the sensor is configured to detect movements of a first side ofthe finger as the finger pad contacts an external surface.
 14. Thefinger device defined in claim 13 wherein the sensor is selected fromthe group consisting of: a force sensor and a displacement sensor. 15.The finger device defined in claim 11 wherein the hinge is selected fromthe group consisting of: a friction hinge, a spring-loaded hinge, and afreely-rotating hinge joint.
 16. A finger device configured to be wornon a fingertip without covering a finger pad of the fingertip,comprising: an upper housing portion configured to extend across a topof the fingertip; first and second side housing portions configured toextend down respective first and second sides of the fingertip; a sensorin the first side housing portion that measures movements of the firstside of the fingertip as the finger pad contacts an external surface;and an adjustable structure configured to adjust a position of thesensor relative to the first side of the fingertip by moving the firstside housing portion along a linear axis.
 17. The finger device definedin claim 16 wherein the adjustable structure comprises a silicone bandthat extends across the upper housing portion and that has first andsecond opposing ends respectively coupled to the first and second sidehousing portions.
 18. The finger device defined in claim 16 wherein theadjustable structure comprises a drawstring.
 19. The finger devicedefined in claim 16 wherein the adjustable structure comprises a ratchetmechanism.
 20. The finger device defined in claim 16 wherein theadjustable structure comprises a scissor mechanism.